


Just Until I Forget

by shirayukikira (shirashirayuki)



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe - Office, Angst, Drama, M/M, Romance, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-25
Updated: 2014-07-19
Packaged: 2018-02-06 05:08:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1845454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shirashirayuki/pseuds/shirayukikira
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kagami runs away and tries to start a new life in Japan. He starts work at Paramount Corp as a receptionist. Can Kagami escape his past and start anew afterall?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fancy meeting you here

“Aomine has always been known in this company as the top performer. The seniors in the company did not disagree with him and his peers, well, we can’t help but look up to him. There are others though, that can’t help but hate him. But for the most part, if you ask me, I feel bad for the guy.”

“Why?” Kagami mused out loud

“He just seems like he’s bored out of his mind, like he has lost all interest in work because nothing challenges him anymore. He used to smile all of the time, his eyes full of opinions. It’s just a matter of time before he moves on, I’ll bet. But move on to where? Paramount is the highest ranked multi-solution software company there is in this country. That is the kind of boredom that will spread and infect the rest of your life outside of work, I think.”

Watching Kise lost in his pensive thoughts, and rattling off his analysis of this ‘Aomine’ person, makes Kagami wonder how Kise truly feels about the guy. Was he a fan? Or a hater? It was not difficult to see that his adoring eyes while recounting his encounters with him, impart the former. The gentle curve on his lips and smile on his eyes are not those of a bitter rival. 

“Well you will see what I mean. Aomine is coming back from the UK Summit trip tomorrow. You might get to meet him.” Kise said this in a way that annoyed him. What was so special about this Aomine guy? Why should he be so privileged if they met? 

“Can I just get your signature on this Sales contract? He interjected, bringing them back to the work at hand.

“Oh sure, Kagamicchi” His tone was gentle, but there was something in his voice that sounded a little like disappointment. After reviewing the details for about five minutes, Kise swiftly signed the bottom corner and handed the papers back to Kagami. “Here you are.”

Kagami looked at the page to check the signature as he turned to walk towards his desk. Kise’s signature was big and fancy, making it easy to spot. 

The rest of the work day consisted of tracking down various personnel asking for signatures, filing away paperwork, and routing calls to the correct extension. This job was boring and he probably wasn’t going to get anywhere with it, but precisely because it was boring, it was good for him. It gave him a routine, and it made him start to feel normal again. After everything he had gone through these two years, all he wanted now was normal. 

That night Kagami drifted off to sleep without much trouble at all. It had been one of the few nights in the past two years, that he did not fear closing his eyes. He thought of Himuro. His raven eyes, obscured once with the depths of love, and then cruel cold eyes, lingering in the darkness. These eyes of hatred, were always waiting for him whenever, he closed his lids.

Greeting all of the entrants in the early morning has become a part of his daily routine as well. Sorting the mail, and dropping them into the rightful owner’s box in the back lobby. Like this, he could get used to the dull ache in his heart. Just doing the monotonous things that life had to offer him. And maybe. Just maybe, he could forget about his life with Himuro and start a new one. 

“Good morning, Midorima.” 

“Kagami. Today we have a meeting with a rather big client and we need a note-taker. Please sit in on the meeting and take notes for audit records.”

“Sure. I..I’m not sure what kind of notes you are interested in, so I will try my best to type down everything I can.”

“Just come to the Cypress room at exactly 10:47am.”

“47?”

“yes, 47! Make sure to be there not one minute before or one minute after”

“Okay. I will be there.” The particularity of the time, felt like he was walking right in to a set-up. A cold flash of fear swept through him. What if Himuro had somehow gotten his address and was waiting in the cypress room? Surely he would probably never walk back out of those doors if that were the case. He hadn’t known his coworkers for long but would they really do this to him? He felt fear, dread, and a strange sense of curiosity rise within him. 

No it doesn’t make sense that Himuro would try to meet him here. If anything he would find him at home where there would be fewer witnesses around. This was probably just paranoia getting the best of him again. Grabbing his notebook and laptop he headed towards the Cypress boardroom. Right before he turned the handle he glanced up at the hallway clock and waited until the long hand hit 47 minutes exactly and then took a deep breath and exhaled before turning the antique brass doorknob. 

Inside the room there were papers scattered all over the rectangular table and stacked in some places. People appeared to be arguing and the tension in the room felt thick. He quickly searched the room and found the one empty leather chair next to Midorima, in the corner. There were many faces, and many eyes on him as he entered and made his way to the empty seat. He dared not look up, but he could feel their eyes on him. He bowed his head, as he mouthed an apology for being late and silently cursed Midorima for telling him to not enter before 10:47. Kagami had been waiting outside the room with his hand on the handle and eyes on the clock for a two full minutes like some loon, while this meeting appeared to have started quite some time ago. 

Lost in the scene before him, he eyed the different personalities in the room. The guys across the table from him did not look familiar. They were probably the decision makers from the client side. Somehow, everyone in the room smelled rich and powerful, making Kagami a little self-conscious. There had been a time where he would step into a room and the only thing on his mind being sizing up and seeking out the strongest opponent and meeting their gaze to hopefully illicit a satisfying challenge of some sort. This fire in him was gone now, being a distant part of some memory of himself. His light had dimmed slowly over the years, his confidence broken by bit each day, by the one man that he trusted and loved with all of his heart. He knew that Himuro had loved him too, but in the last two years of their relationship, Himuro had turned into the devil himself, crushing Kagami both mentally and physically, until he had reached his life’s limit. It’s funny how fate can suddenly turn on a switch with no warning at all. 

His choices became clear one gloomy November day while looking out of the window and then back down at the bleeding wound on his hand, the hand he had used to block his face from Himuro’s fit earlier for forgetting to add sugar to his morning coffee. Himuro had gotten a new Yanagi Knife from for his birthday a few weeks ago, and Kagami’s stomach grew knotted anticipating the trouble it would bring. But now he believes that this special birthday present from his own mother had saved them both. It had become unbearably clear that morning—either stay and let the other man’s love destroy him or leave and save them both from what they have become. He gathered the remaining courage within him, took with him a backpack of some clothes, locked the door silently behind him and jumped on the first flight back to Japan. He had no money, still has none, but at least he was able to find a room in a shady part of town. His roommates never come home, and when they do it’s only for a short while, so that he has never even seen their faces. It almost feels like he has made a home of his own. He had sold himself a few times; to get by on rent, and finally to the one guy that was able to give him this job. It really didn’t matter and he didn’t mind, because life felt like it would come to a short sudden end anytime now. 

Sitting at the head of the table, there was a guy with red fiery hair, similar to his own, but brighter. From pictures and newspaper clippings around the office, he appeared to be the CEO of Paramount, Akashi Seijuro. On the other side of Midorima, Kise was the other familiar face, his usual bright and golden smile, looked more serious and focused than usual. The other guys around the table, looked familiar in that he had seen them around the company before, but did not know their names. There was the guy with long purple hair believe it or not, sitting next to Akashi, with his hair tied up in a ponytail. The pale and thin guy with light blue hair, and little to no presence at all, sat almost dead still and was in stark contrast with Kise’s shinning presence. An odd group no doubt, but he knew strength and power when he saw it, and there was something more than substantial about their presence. 

“Mr. Mikasuke, so it seems that we have come to a sort of stand-still in our negotiation here today. You guys seem to be interested in a partnership deal that will send your relevant clients directly to us for their social application software needs, for the agreed upon royalty agreement, but you are also requiring us to unbrand those products and sell under your Mikatsuki label?” Akashi looked like he was boring a hole straight into the eyes of his glasses wearing opponent.

His fingers flew over the keys, struggling to type down every word said. Feeling a strong presence enter the room and the click of the door prompted him to glance up towards the door. A tall man with navy blue eyes that matched his hair, walked in and found his seat next to Akashi. 

“On top of that, the royalty percentage would be 10% above the industry standard?” Midorima mused almost in a mocking tone.

“Why do that when we can simply partner with your leading competitor? We have yet to talk to them.” the purple haired guy seemed to have struck a nerve because then Mikasuke seemed to be stirring uncomfortably in his seat.

“Partnering with Uncrowned Corp. would be surefire success for us. But here we are having a conversation with you fine gentlemen, thinking that we would be able to outgrow and outlast the leading competition together.” Kise’s delivery was very convincing even if Kagami hadn’t a clue as to what was going on. 

“But please don’t give us a deal that even we can’t swallow.” The small pale, light blue hair guy delivered the message bluntly but effectively. Kagami understood this and was sure the opposing side could too. At this point, he could feel the flow of the conversation favoring their side.

“But you see, if we partner with you, we preclude ourselves from catching other bids, and with something as everchanging as application software, we would not want to put all our eggs in one basket.” Mikasuke stated matter of factly. 

It was now that Kagami heard his voice for the first time. His voice was dark and rough, steady and strong, and made Kagami feel at ease for some reason.

“An OEM agreement would enable you to sell our software with your own without being tied up with us publicly. But you did not approach us with this. Which means you may be more interested in something else. Royalties. You want cash. Paramount is not a bank, we will not be making any loans, but are not interested in a short lived relationship that might put our reputation on the line either. He looked at Akashi and his navy blue eyes appeared delivered a deliberate message. Akashi nodded back as if to say, go on. He might as well have been speaking another language but Kagami typed every word as he spoke, gently stroking the keys as not to interfere with the moment.

“So with everything you want, we can do 2% royalty and we sell to you as the end user so you can have the name, implementation and support is off the table, we can provide professional services and support at commercial pricing if needed. It would be a year by year contract.” His navy blue eyes were slightly softer as he faced Akashi but as he adjusted his eyes back to Mikasuke, they intensified once more. "Otherwise, we can do a simple OEM agreement which of course would not have royalties. This would be the only offer we are willing to make Mikatsuki corporation.” He remained focused on his opponent, his eyes held no emotion just a steady calm that was so willful, Kagami found himself hoping the deal to go through, for some reason, he thought disappointment would not suit those eyes. 

There was talking all at once on the other side as we watched on. Kagami did not know enough about this deal to figure much out, but he could sense things were going their way. 

“Since it is only a one year deal, let’s go ahead and see what becomes of it. We are pleased to accept your partnership. Our counsel will be in contact with you regarding the contract.” Mikasuke appeared to be smiling but his eyes told a different story. His posture was stiff as everyone shook hands and especially when he faced him again before exiting the room, his jaw clenched as he smiled and bowed.

“Well that went well.” Kise beamed. “You’re nicer than usual today, Aomine.” As he thought, the tanned navy haired man was the same one in the picture that Kise was yakking off about yesterday. Looking at him now, Kagami can’t help but feel genuinely interested.  
“Shut up. We got what we wanted didn’t we. We ripped ‘em off.”  
“How often are we going to do these small deals, Akashi?” the pale skinny guy inquired.  
“Kuroko is right. It’s not really making us much.” Midorima stated.  
So it appeared that Kuroko was the name of the pale skinny dude. Kagami typed it in his notes so that he could clean up his board notes later.  
“I’m so hungry,” the purple one groaned.  
“It’s a waste of time,” The dark blue haired guy complained.  
“We aren’t doing good by any standards. Our revenue has decreased year over year, and the industry is constantly changing. What do you suggest we do, Daiki?”  
“The year isn't over yet, no need to get your yarn in a bunch.” Aomine got up and sauntered out of the room.  


Kagami mentally kicked himself in the butt for not listening in detail when Kise was describing Aomine yesterday. What was the reason for his lackluster attitude though he was the top performer again? Listening was a vital survival instinct, one that would have saved him several times before. He made a mental note, that listening, even to office gossip, might not be so bad after all.


	2. Seeing but not really seeing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ´・ω・｀う(　ﾟдﾟ)つ

"How many more times?" Kagami asked as the man was slamming deep into him from behind. It was easy to ignore the growing hole in his heart as he did this, the constant dull ache was temporarily replaced by a sharper type of physical pain.

"Turn around Kagami. I wanna see your face." On instinct, he turned, and the older male, grabbed his throat, whispered something into his ear that couldn't be heard and spread his thighs apart, thrusting his massive cock back into him, this time hitting a spot that Kagami had forgotten existed. Kagami could feel that the other man was getting closer to coming inside of him, as his cock throbbed and moans deepened.

Everytime Kagami did this, he always thought of Himuro in the later part of the night when he would clean up in the restroom, while looking into the mirror. For some strange reason, the more people he slept with, the more foreign marks on his body, the further he felt away from him. The realization that he was desperately trying to forget, but failing to do so was so frustrating; he welcomed the little progress that he did see, it was nice to see the new marks covering up the older deeper scars.

He touched his aching throat and traced the bruising that was left behind after the night's activities. _'I hate the things you make me do. I wish I never met you.'_ Kagami repeated these words to himself as the realization dawned on him of what he couldn't hear being whispered into his ear earlier. After pocketing the money left on the nightstand and taking one more look at his sleeping partner, he smiled a decent smile as he closed the door and headed towards the lights of Tsuchibokori district, but the warm humid night air, on a clear starry night like this couldn't even help him. He left Midorima's house that night, feeling emptier than before.

Most lunches, Kagami ate in the cafeteria and kept to himself so as not to get too close to anyone at work, for fear that they would see how seriously broken and twisted he was, which might threaten his only lifeline, this job that Midorima had secured for him. Lunch in the cafeteria was awesome and always the highlight of the day, as the company prices were unbeatable and helped him out a great deal. Usually he would eat a mountain lion's lunch and dinner share, but today he could merely afford a drink, as rent was due in two days. How would he survive the day? He thought about begging Kise for food, when he faintly remembered the orange tree that was growing in the back patio. It had fruit on it about two weeks ago and maybe there were still some left. He could only hope.

Kagami was cursing the rumbling of his stomach when he spotted a branch that was ripe with fruit and within reach. Getting on his tip toes, his outstretched arms clumsily dragged a whole branch down with it. He sat on a nearby bench that beckoned to him and started to peel back the supple looking layers when he heard an all too familiar sound. _The sound of dribbling, the sound of basketball, the sound of his past coming back to haunt him._ Immediately, he dropped the fruits of his labor and started to turn, heading back towards the other direction; he did not want to see anything that would remind of the possessive bond to Himuro. But he could not look away once he saw him.

His navy hair rushing in the wind towards the paint, taking two steps back and an underhanded effortless shot that hit nothing but net. He was muscular and toned with the build of a professional athlete at his best. One shot after another, his form or lack there of, was like nothing Kagami had seen before, but his undeniable skill was captivating. He was the exact opposite of Himuro, raw and unrestricted, erratic and unpredictible. He saw his other co-workers on the court but watching Aomine hopelessly in control and dominating them, Kagami could not help but feel the heat rush from his shoulders through his arms and into his fingertips, itching to touch the basketball again. One small withered piece of his former self, the one that longed for attention and for the glory of a win, was indeed starting to flicker back to life.


	3. Grapefruit Soda

Most days went on without incident, falling into a routine pattern as he went through the motions, but what Kagami didn’t know was that ever since seeing Aomine play that day, a little seed of hope had taken root inside of him and was threatening to sprout.

Kagami made a habit of watching the basketball pick-up games between coworkers every day at lunch. Instead of the cafeteria, he now favored the bench overlooking the court, where he would sometimes day dream of playing one on one with Aomine. When noon time rolled around, Kagami was usually the first to queue in at the pizza corner in the cafeteria. He would purchase his slices and a coke, and rush to his bench, scanning the courts hoping to catch a glimpse of dark blue hair. 

Eyes wide and heat coursing through his body, he anticipated and waited for the moment, but he never knew when the guy would show up or if he would, and was usually disappointed since Aomine only came by once a week and sometimes not even. When he did show up, he easily defeated any and all, but it never got tiring to watch, though Kagami figured that he would have been able to put up a more interesting challenge than the lot of them, he never could bring himself to step up. 

Whenever the blue eyed man was around, feigning mild interest by always carrying a book with him and appearing to read sporadically throughout, Kagami appeared to be interested in the birds and the trees and every flying creature that came across. 

But for the past two weeks he had not seen head or foot of Aomine, and was starting to wonder if the tanned male had gone off on a business trip. Many of the seniors had gone and come back from various conventions in preparation for the new fiscal year. April was a really nice time in Japan, the Sakura blossoms were starting to fall, leaving the patio covered in petals. 

Lost in thought, heading straight for the courts, Kagami did not feel like eating today. Perhaps he was dreading the upcoming mandatory team building company party for one reason and another, but the new specials at Platzu Pizza just didn't seem to appeal. It was to be a formal dinner and one that would require a plus one. He was out of money again, and had nothing to wear and certainly no one to bring. The theme was to be a surprise and Paramount had rented out a fancy place for a very ostentatious party. Just thinking about it made him want to roll a couple of meters and slip into a ditch.

Seeing no one at the courts, he plopped down on the bench. Eyeing the basket, and feeling a heightened sense of frustration, he got up and picked up a basketball from the ground and started to dribble. He immediately felt relief and started to dribble towards the basket. It felt like a long time, as he couldn't remember the last time he had done this, but palming the ball he lifted off the ground and dunked into the net. A rush of emotions pulsed through him, conflicting between heart wrenching sadness and happiness, but ultimately sorrow edged out and tears followed. He doubled over and crouched down, wanting to just dissolve into the ground.

Then he felt something hard hit the back of his head and a basketball bounced off in his peripheral. 

"Playin'?" a low voice demanded. "Well don't just sit in the middle of the court, play me."  
Kagami quickly wiped his eyes and turned around, and was surprised to see the man he had been hoping to see a glimpse of for the past weeks, standing right in front of him with a vague look of concern on his face.

Seeing Aomine up this close, he could see that his eyes were bluer than they appeared from far away and something about them gave Kagami a sense of calm.

"Iteeee... that hurts. I could have a concussion." he said in a joking tone.

There was a brief smile on Aomine's lips. "Play me. Get me back. First four to go in."

"I haven't played in a while. I'm quite out of shape..." He had waited for this moment, but wasn't quite ready for it.  
"You don't look out of shape to me. Sounds like you're scared and making excuses " Aomine's words stung, but they were certainly nothing but the truth. He remembered back to his glory days on the basketball court, lights ablaze, his classmates watching him with eyes glimmering in amazement but his flash back was cut short in a sudden when the ball hit Kagami in the chest.

Reflexively, Kagami forms a smirk on his face. "Check" "Check", as he receives the ball back, he knows that Aomine is all about speed and all about power. So as Aomine waits for him, he knows he has to be one move ahead of him. Kagami drives towards the paint, but Aomine is right there with him step for step, Kagami pivots on his right and a fade-away shot goes in. 1-0. 

And the look on Aomine's face is hardly shock, but instead a wickedly amused smile and Kagami knows that this is the first time Aomine has been challenged on this particular court.

"Check" "Check" Aomine somehow got the ball, but Kagami is right there with him. Aomine cuts right, simultaneously his body is moving right, but his right arm is traveling left, with the ball behind him, he puts a spin move on him and right away Kagami is juked out; a simple rainbow shot and the ball is in. 1-1.

"Check"  
Kagami tries another move on Aomine, but it doesn't work, Aomine has adjusted and steals the ball, goes for it and slams the ball in. 1-2. 

"Check" "Check"  
The ball is back to Kagami and he manages to lose Aomine in a brief opening and goes for the shot, but Aomine is there to contest it. Aomine gets the ball, swiftly dribbles left, dribbles right and puts the ball thru his legs. When he sees an opening in Kagami's defense, he jumps and the ball goes over Kagami's last fingertips, bounces a few times on the rim and inexplicably goes in. Then the last shot to end the game was a simple rainbow shot from a ridiculous angle that Kagami wasn't expecting.

"Tsumaneee na," Aomine drawled, and with his cocky crooked half smile, turned without warning and walked off leaving him alone on the court catching his breath. He knew he was asking for it and that there was little chance of winning Aomine when he was so out of it, but the bastard really had a way of rubbing it in. 

Feeling more or less dejected Kagami sprawled out, resting on the bench, his stomach growling in full force now. He closed his eyes and breathed in the cool breeze. He had watched Aomine a couple of times do this to others, but actually playing him, it was difficult to come to terms with how badly he had been beaten. Out of shape yes, but he was owned just now. Kise was right, you couldn't help but admire or hate him, and right now Kagami was feeling a bit of both.

Feeling an icy cold weight on his head, Kagami's eyes flew opened and took notice of the aluminum Grapefruit soda can sitting on his forehead. He rolled it off and looked up to see Aomine sitting next to him, in his own hand, a similar looking yellow can.

"Uuhh...Stop attacking my head would ya!"

"Don't want it, give it back." he half reached for the can, but Kagami resisted. "Who are you anyway? A new hire?" 

"That's somethin' coming from someone who didn't even introduce himself first. My name is Kagami Taiga. I'm a new hire here. Front desk." Kagami had to say that, even though he knew exactly who he was facing and then some. Being so close to Aomine, caused him to feel off, a slightly fluttery feeling in the pit of his stomach. He cursed himself for being so easily effected. It's not like he was some highschooler that was eager to please. He had gone through every describable pain in the past years and as experienced in life as he was, sitting next to the bastard made him feel unhinged.

"Aomine Daiki," he gulped down the rest of his soda and the empty can rattled when he placed it on the bench between the two of them. He dug his hands into his pockets and pulled out a slim box with a red top and slid out a cigarette and offered the box in Kagami's direction but was waved away. With the cigarette in his mouth he leaned over slightly, covering the tip, and lit it while puffing out smoke, and then took a deep slow drag, exhaling into the wind.  


"What the...We just had a game and you're smoking? Get rid of that shit, it's gonna kill you." Kagami could hardly believe that Aomine was smoking right now, so soon after their one on one.

"I smoke when I'm bored and when I'm done fuckin," Aomine nonchalantly volunteered. At the realization of Aomine's words, Kagami blinked in reaction and a faint flush could be felt on his face.

Saved by the booming roar of his empty stomach, he felt at ease as the other raised his perfectly arched brow, and formed his lips to release another cloud of smoke. Kagami feigned a cough and waved his hand in front of his face. Jerk. He was practically steaming up here and the blue eyed bastard kept blowing smoke at him. That was why he was all heated. Made sense.

"Say, since you lost to me, go buy me a sandwich, since I haven't eaten either."

"We weren't playing for sandwiches. I can't even afford to buy a sandwich for myself. Let alone one for you" 

"Ketchheee. Stingy ass... " Aomine started to complain, but when he saw the genuine look on the other's face, he stopped himself.

Kagami was looking down at his feet. "I can make one for you, but then there's the other issue, I'm too poor to afford groceries. Wait until the end of the month and I might be able to come up with something."

"Here. Use this." he threw a C-note at Kagami's forehead.  
"US dollar? Where did you get this?"  
"I went there last week, this was leftover. I don't want it. Get it exchanged or something and make me a killer sandwich."

Aomine was alot of things but Jerk might top the list. Just as Kagami was forming his reply, he could see Kise in the distance yelling something and waving his arms to catch their attention. As he approached and came into full view of them, Kagami could see the grimness on his amber eyes and that he was not alone. In the further distance behind him were two police officers in uniform. 

Kise sped into their corner and sensing the panic on his face, we both stood up from the bench in unison. "Kagamicchi, Aominecchi. The police are here, they have Akashi and they want to arrest us—not arrest but bring in for questioning." Kise caught his breath and looked back.  


"What? who? why?" he inquired while wanting to split and run for the hills. If living in the streets has taught him anything, it was to run whenever you see cops not talk about it. He instinctively pivoted his foot and edged back, but then a firm tanned hand on his shoulder stopped his movement.

"What happened?" Aomine's voice sounded lower and more focused than usual.  
"They said we are under suspicion of releasing confidential government documents in our dealings with Mikasuki Corporation that one day in the office. Or something. It doesn't make sense," Kise pleaded his eyes darting behind him. "Everyone in the room that day has to be brought in for questioning, but Midorima and Murasakibara are out of town. Kuroko is MIA and Akashi went ahead with another officer and they want us to come in as well," his voice dissipated into a whisper, anticipating the policemen to approach soon. 

"Something's not right. You can see that right? They're holstering weapons. Usually if the police just want to talk to you they do not come on like that." Kagami pleaded. "Let's just get out of here while we can." Eyeing the openings around them, he couldn't help but ready himself.

"We cannot run away from police officers, and especially not when they just want to bring us in for questioning! Kagamicchi, this might be your first encounter with the police, but just try to stay calm, okay?" 

"This most definitely is not my first encounter with the police. Which is how I can tell by just looking, that there is something off about them!" his voice grew louder and the others gave him a bewildered look.

"Somehow I agree with 'eagerpanties' over here. Are they detectives or police? Those are police in uniform to arrest, not question. But obviously running is not an option. Ma ii yo, let's just go and see what they want." his voice was steady and calm like always but in his eyes there was a tinge of hesitation. He stepped up towards the police officers and Kise followed suit, no trace of the earlier panic showing on his face. "How may I help you officers?" 

"We would like to bring in Kise Ryouta, Kagami Taiga, Kuroko Tetsuya, Aomine Daiki, Akashi Seijuro, Murasakibara Atsushi, and Midorima Shintarou for questioning on a confidential government data leak case. Kise, Kagami and Aomine, which I believe are whom I am speaking to here. " The smaller guy spoke while glancing off a piece of paper, with characters of their names on it. The guy next to him was taller than all of us and looked like he could do some damage, but for some reason he was shifty, eyes darting back and forth all around. 

After showing us their badges and reading off some more information, we headed towards their car parked in the back lot. We avoided going through the main path, to prevent coworkers from spotting us as they left the cafeteria. 

Against the car, the two men patted us down to check for weapons, and Kagami felt the smaller guy, the one who identified himself earlier as Nian, linger around his ass longer than necessary. He only stepped off after the other taller guy finished with Aomine and Kise, and Aomine cleared his throat out loud and spat on the floor in their direction. 

Once the three were inside the back of the police car, it sped off and headed towards the city road. Kise ended up sitting in the middle and kept sighing impatiently every two minutes, while Aomine kept his head down low seemingly lost in thought. 

The back of the police car was hard plastic and even less pleasant than Kagami had remembered. When it went over bumps and rocks down the windy path, he could feel every hitch on his back. It was a wonder how Kise stopped his sighing and managed to somehow fall asleep on the ride, his head gently resting back. Looking out of the window, Kagami couldn't help but let out a soft laugh for the situation he was in.

When they finally reached the Wakemichi at the end of the hill, the car hesitated at the stop sign for a second and then decisively swerved right in the other direction towards the woods, away from the city road. A steel partition formed over the netting and closed off our view of the two men in police uniform. 

"Fuck," they said in unison, and looked at each other for a brief second before pulling futilely on their door handles only to find that of course, they were locked in. So not nearly an hour after he finally got to meet Aomine for the first time, and talk to him, they were now surely confined in the back compartment, including Kise, of a shady police car.


	4. Leave this all behind

“Kise wake the fuck up.” Aomine tapped him on the shoulder.

“Huh?” Kise rubbed his eyes and let out a groan. “The police…Are we here? Where are we?”

We remained silent, and while looking around, the stupor on Kise’s face started to fade, as realization started to kick in.

“Yeah, I don’t think they’re police,” he could not resist.

“Hey! Hey! Stop the car!” Kise started to kick at the partition and bang on the steel plate.

“Shut up!” Aomine hissed, with his arm, he pushed Kise back into the seat. “Stay quiet, let them wonder what we’re doing and they might stop the car to check.”

Kise seemed to quickly understand his meaning through the harsh whispers and seated calmly once again.

“Well, we do have the government as one of our clients. We have info on where their servers are housed. Maybe they are police, just a different kind…” Kise offered half-heartedly, more mumbling to himself.

“Cellphone, where is my cellphone?” Kise patted his body, and pulled out his pockets. He was always heavily reliant on his phone in one way or another, and it not being there was impossible, “Kagamicchi? Aominecchi?”

“I don’t have one.” Of course he didn’t. He was trying to disconnect from his decrepit past and the world, if possible, particularly to avoid situations like this.

“Those bastards lifted it off me,” his blue eyes were vexed as he pulled off his long sleeve to reveal sinewy lean dark biceps cuffed by a white shorter in-sleeve. A truly pleasing sight, but not welcomed in an already aggravating moment like this. “Kise, give me your bulky ass watch. Is it expensive?”

"Here. Not very.” Kise gulped as he anticipated what was going to happen next, as Aomine tore his sleeve apart and wrapped it around his knuckles, and eventually fixing the watch to his fist.

“We need to get out of here,” He wasn’t sure what the heck Aomine was doing, but the scenes through the window were getting more and more scenic as they drove deeper into the woods and he knew their kidnappers certainly did not go through all this trouble, just to take them sight-seeing. Kagami felt around the crevices of the door surface hoping to somehow force an opening. He pushed back on Kise to create some distance, and with all of his force, he wound up and released a heavy punch on the window with his bare fist and a blunt thud could be heard throughout."Fuck, I need something, I can’t break through like this, especially not bullet proof glass."Pushing back against Kise again, he wanted to make space, this time so that he could try to kick the door through with the strength of his legs.

Then a loud clash could be heard along with the shattering of glass and sounded like a miracle. He turned around and saw that Aomine, the bastard, had somehow managed to punch through the window, but that now his arm was stuck in it, and shards of glass were ripping his skin open, and blood was trailing down his elbow. His heart sank as he leaned over to access how to help the situation.

He expected Kise to freak out like he was doing internally when he saw the sight, but Kise reached over immediately to break back the many shards of glass that were pinning Aomine’s arm. He also expected Aomine to yell out in pain but that never came either. The pain he felt could only be seen in the clenching of his jawline, which before this was always in a slightly amused resting state.

When they broke apart most of the fragments of glass, he pulled his arm back inside and there was blood everywhere. The sight of blood had never bothered Kagami, as he had spilled it often enough. Himuro had forced many cuts and bruises and wounds on him in various ways, sometimes out of anger and other times because it simply turned him on. In general though, Kagami was an accident magnet and had seen worse things. But when faced with the scene before him, his palms went sweaty and limbs felt weak—leaving him paralyzed. Perhaps he couldn't act. This wasn't the blood he willingly spilled, or blood of some passerby, maybe _because_ this blood belonged to Aomine, it didn't feel right at all.

Without much pause, Aomine proceeded to kick down the rest of the window. With each stubborn thrash, the pieces started to fall and the hole was now wide enough that a cool breeze could be felt.

"Fuck! Let me do it, just wait a second," he managed to plead out. Sensing a distraction, he ripped the remainder of the white long sleeve and firmly wrapped Aomine's arm to stop the bleeding with a hard knot.

"Shit the car is slowing. There's no time for this shit!" Aomine protested.

Kise crouched on the seat and balanced his weight on his hands to allow himself the leverage he needed to deliver two fully extended kicks that opened the window frame up completely. We all knew it was now or never. Kise leaned forward, slipped through the opening and crash landed on the gravel, as the car passed him by.

As Aomine reached through the frame to open the door from the outside, the car came to a screeching halt; he fully released the handle, kicked, and the door flew open.

"Ima kill these bastards!"

"Run you dumbass!" Kagami grabbed onto his wrists tightly and pulled forward, running without ever looking around. He let out a sigh of relief when he felt Aomine keeping up with his pace, right by his side. His legs flew underneath him and ahead of him were endless rows of rubber like trees gapped by the setting sun. At this point, it did not matter that they were heading into oblivion, he was strangely comforted by the wrist he was clasping and the breathing of the man beside him.

In the distance, once again, he saw golden hair dusting in the wind. Once again, Kise's frantic eyes came into view, and once again, his arms were waving in the air as if trying to draw attention to something. And a blunt thud echoed in his ears and confirmed his fears. He turned to see Aomine lying on the ground on his side, his eyes imperceptibly parted. "Go and...," he mouthed into Kagami's burning eyes and appeared to drift out of consciousness.

Dropping to the ground, Kagami felt around Aomines body to feel a pulse. He held his breath and inwardly prayed as his hand approached Aomine's face. A soft warm breath could be felt on his fingertips and he wanted to exhale in relief, but there was a sharp stabbing pain in his chest that seemed to swell even as he realized Aomine was still alive. Looking around he did not see blood and gently patting Aomine's body he came across a metal dart like object on the back of his shoulder blade. " _Tranquilizer_ ," he said out loud as he carefully removed it from his skin.

"What the fuck did you do?!! Who are you!" he could hear Kise shrieking into a sob in the background, directing his voice towards the figures that were behind them.

A maniacal laughter erupted from behind as two disgustingly familiar figures approached. "Run and I'll shoot with my real gun,"Nian shook his firearm in the air for effect.

"Now let's be reasonable about this. We have to take you all somewhere. And that's it. That's all and our part of the job is done. So we would rather not get blood on our hands, so let's just get back in the car okay? With you guys, that makes _five_ out of the seven we need. Now let's go and join your friends."

"What do you want from us?" Kise's each word was projected with hatred.

There was really no way to escape this situation, together. Aomine was out cold and it was two guns against none. Now that he thinks about it, he had been like this his whole life, running from one bad situation into another, so it was rather ironic that the one time he had tried to do something right by himself, this is where he ended up.

"Let me make this simpler. I'll shoot the nearest thing to me, say the freak on the ground, if you guys don't carry him to the car when I count from five." Nian angled the gun towards Aomine's still figure.

"Five."

He wanted to run again, and leave this all behind. There was another thing he learned from hustling in the streets—is that the chances of hitting a sitting duck was slimmer than one would think, but that it was nearly impossible to hit a _moving_ target.

"Four."

If he could go and get help—that would be the only reasonable thing to do in this situation. His brain told him that the only way to save them, the only chance of surviving, would mean leaving him behind for now.

He _could_ be certain couldn't he? That they would _not_ harm him. They needed them to be alive for some reason, like they mentioned, they have the others.

"Three."

He would be alright wouldn't he? The only way out of this is to run.

There was no other way and Aomine would agree with him.

"Two."

_I'll definitely come back for you_

"One."

His eyes were closed and a soft warm body was underneath him. No one moved and not a sound could be heard. He felt soft hair against his cheeks and on the lids of his eyes, as his face was pressed up against the back of his head, shielding _him_ from what might come. When it felt like enough time had passed, he slowly opened his lids, expecting to see blue, and not red, oh please not red, or any other color of the damn rainbow for that matter. But instead he saw yellow, he saw sunshine and he realized that someone else deeply cared for Aomine too, and that he had gotten there first.

"Alright, let's go homos. Carry him to the car." 


	5. Silver Lining

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all of your comments. They really help push this story along. Greatly appreciated :) But before you read this chapter I suppose I should issue a mild warning that if you are sensitive to violence or opposed to plot driven chapters you should probably skip this one. Thank you for stopping by (:

On the ride there, Kagami could not figure out why he had done what he did. Why hadn't he run? It was the perfect chance, and would have been smart. Was his life so worthless that he would just risk it to save someone who was basically a stranger? It didn't make sense to him, and he did not remember making the conscious decision to fling himself in front of Aomine.

And had he known, Kise would have done just that, he could have saved himself the trouble. He did not want to think about Kise, and why in that moment they so easily offered their lives, and what it meant. He did not want to think about it anymore, and decided that he spontaneously reacted because even the worse of us had a deep rooted instinct to protect the vulnerable.

At some point, he remembered Kise casually offering that he was glad that everyone was unharmed and that he was going to let Aomine know exactly how much he owed him. Kise seemed pretty satisfied with how he had 'saved' Aomine and that he was going to be reaping the benefits for years to come. It was puzzling that Kise was so happy about his actions, yet Kagami couldn't help but feel upset and wished that Kise would just leave his fruitless contribution out of the inevitable conversation when Aomine woke up. As Midorima had put it, Kise was a classic Gemini, always talkative and cheerful, and knew the right thing to say and do and always freakin' sparkled regardless. He never could tell what those types were really thinking.

The kidnappers now had a broken window to watch out for, and accordingly, lowered the steel partition so that they could keep a constant eye on the three in the back. Every once in a while Nian would leer back and give Kagami an intrusive once-over that would make his head revolt in the other direction.

He had dealt with types like Nian before and didn't really feel the need to provoke him any further. But the long ride was starting to wear on him, as he sat and thought. He was merely a note taker in that meeting from so long ago, why did he have to partake in this, yet another mentally and physically abusive situation. Perhaps if he would have kept to himself, none of this would have happened. He shouldn't have gotten involved and wanted to take back any higher hope he ever had for himself. He was good in however sick way he lived and what he was doing, and wanting to be part of a world he wasn't familiar with was just foolish.

When the car finally stopped for good, Aomine still hadn't woken up yet. He figured it had been at least three hours since he had been knocked out and felt that another hour would be entirely too long.

"Why hasn't he woken up yet? What do you want from us really?" he couldn't wait any longer to ask. Looking around, it appeared they were parked in what seemed like a really large warehouse but then off to the right, he could see that there were three or four passenger airplanes neatly parked in a row.

"The three of you are going to take a little flight in Mr. Mikasuke's private jet," Nian responded with a sneer on his face, "And there it seems your little freak is waking up as we speak."

"Aomine!" Kise shot up from his slouch.

Aomine rubbed his eyes like a little toddler waking up from his afternoon nap. His eyes slightly widened as he looked right into Nian's shity face and then a scowl surfaced.

"So this is what is going to happen. You're going on a vacation. All expenses paid, courtesy of Mr. Mikasuke. Enjoy yourself, and whether or not you will being coming back to Japan really depends on your performance," his voice was dripping with vitriolic sarcasm.

Nian and the larger guy ushered us out of the car with their guns. If there was any hope that they were at a commercial landing spot, it quickly subsided when four Yakuza looking men came into view. It was like something out of movie and Kagami just had to scoff when one of the men rolled up his sleeve as he eyed them down, revealing a colored Ukiyo tattoo of a red lotus flower.

As Kagami walked in the direction he was being pushed, he could feel the gun press up harder against his back as Nian came in closer behind him. The barrel of the gun guided its way down his spine and then up under his shirt. The cold metal felt familiar against his skin and in his head he could almost hear Himuro telling him to get down on all fours.

The images in front of him started to blur as his knees weakened and he could no longer block out the fear that numbed his every breath. His stomach turned as he felt a hand from behind him wrap around the collar of his shirt and jerked him in an unexpected direction. He was pinned against a hard cold surface and the hand went down underneath his belt and gripped his bottom, spreading his cheeks apart, before a finger was jabbed inside his entrance.

He felt violated but paralyzed to stop it. In his ear, he could hear the ragged breath of the other taunting him. He could feel his teeth biting his nipples from over his shirt, which did nothing to dull the pain being inflicted upon them. The wetness of the tongue against his shirt seeped through and his nipple ached as he felt the teeth closing over them and starting to grind, intensifying the pain. Nian hissed and his face was contorted with a perverse expression. He closed his eyes for just a moment in repulsion. In the distance, he heard a break out of protests erupting from familiar voices, and swore he heard Kise yelling his name.

Blinking to clear his vision, an indignant set of dark blue eyes approached. He saw a taller figure and a smaller figure wrestling with each other and the taller man ending up on top and punching repeatedly into the body that was immobilized beneath him. Kagami could see an elbow with a blood soaked rag around it, that would rise up into the air and then back down, with each blow, the choked groaning of a man could be heard. Then a group of figures approached and pulled him off and pushed him to the side. He was kicked a few times by someone, as the others hovered over the smaller body on the floor. It was all happening in front of him almost in slow motion, but his brain just couldn't or did not want to catch up with what he was seeing.

Before coming to any realization, staring out of a porthole, he was 30,000 feet above sea level.

"Kagami, you are the most useless big guy I have ever met," a low voice groaned beside him. "Why did you just stand there while that guy felt you up?" he demanded, there was a slight waver of concern in his voice but more than anything he sounded angry.

"What the fuck are you thinking about?! Seriously," he yelled in kagami's ear.

He looked over to see that Aomine was beaten up and that the side of his lips was bloodied and bruised and there were multiple cuts on his lips that were still bleeding.

Getting no response from Kagami, "Did you want him or something?" Aomine barked.

Kagami felt all his defenses falter, his pride was crumbling which felt like his heart was crumbling, and he fought the tugging of the tears welling up under his lids. He averted his eyes, just as warm tears started to fall. He turned his back on Aomine, and looked out of the window, down at the spreading ocean below them. To distract himself, he tried to see shapes in the puffs of clouds that drifted by leisurely.

"I..I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way, it's just... on the court you also... sorry something must have just happened. Forget I said anything." Aomine softened his voice. It came as a surprise because Aomine really didn't seem like the type that could lower his voice purposefully. The situation however was worsening for Kagami, as he realized that his tears from earlier on the court did not go unnoticed.

_Silence._

"And then also everything that is happening right now. Obviously it's been really difficult," he added almost nervously. Nervousness obviously did not suit Aomine. It was foreign and Kagami nearly wanted him to be yelling instead.

He turned around to take a peek at Aomine's anxious face, and when their eyes met, Aomine slightly jerked his head back and his eyes went back and forth, unsure of where to rest as if caught by surprise.

Kagami felt a stupid grin forming on his face, and feigned a frown instead.

As if sensing a change in the other's disposition, his navy eyes questioned thoughtfully.

"You know I was just bothered right now because I realized something really regrettable. I didn't get to drink that grapefruit soda you got me. I left it on the court," he buried his redhead in both hands and motioned in regret. When he was certain the other could not see, he let more tears flow, to hide them away.

"Idiot. I'll get you another one if they have grapefruit sodas where we are going."

"And where is that?" he mumbled from under his hands and buried the rest of his tears away before lifting his head up to gaze out of the window again.

"I don't have a fuckin clue. But one thing is for sure, they aren't trying to kill us yet."

Every dark cloud has a silver lining or so, but it seemed looking at them form from this jetplane window, Kagami could see nothing but blue.

 


	6. Our Unyielding Bond

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More warnings/ Violence/ plot building etc
> 
> Thank you for taking a chance on this AU :)

Kagami was resolute. He had made up his mind and he was ready. Really he didn’t need to be a part of this. This was the last time he was ever going to see any of this ever again. But of the ways he thought it would end, being locked up in a cage and left to rot away was not a very exciting end to a life well exhausted.

 

He had stopped his internal questing of why their captors flew them across a long stretch of ocean just to lock him in a room with no windows, in a cage no less. It seemed like a big heap of wasted effort when they could have easily shot him dead at any point.

 

It had been something like a day without water or food, but there was really no way to tell. Supposing that there was a deadline, since realistically the human body can only survive without water for three or four days, he couldn’t help but smile in acquiescence. He could only assume that the others were suffering a similar fate elsewhere. Left to urinate and defecate where he lay, he let out a self-loathing breath. Perhaps, it was a fitting end for his pathetic life afterall.

 

Resting his cheek on the cold steel of the floor—it was sad—that there were nothing but darkness to look into and nothing to think about. The hallways of his mind were a roundabout maze and he was running into one dead end after another. He thought he was singing to himself, but who knew if anything could be heard.

 

The cold kept him company.

 

 _Sairiyuku kisetsu wa koete ima_ ( I have weathered the passing seasons

 _Kimi ni aitakute_                          and now, I want to see you)

 

He thought about his mom and the phone call he could never make. Confidently pressing the familiar sequence of digits, he would be greeted by her in a panic that would soon subside when he would tell her that he was okay now and that he had found a great job and in a short time had gotten himself promoted to a position in sales. She would be, once again, proud of her defective son.

 

 _Hajimari wa nanimo mienu yami_ (my beginning was nothing but darkness)

 

He thought about Himuro’s reaction to the discovery of his body. This endless mindfuck was really a bitch.

 

Ruffling his pockets he wanted to look for something that would give him a temporary distraction, however brief. Feeling a crunchy bill he pulled out the hundred dollar bill that Aomine had thrown at him back on the court. Too bad. He would never get to see that exquisite shade of blue again. A glimmer of regret made him realize, that perphaps Aomine was the last string of hope that he needed to let go of in order to find eternal rest.

 

 _Nando demo boku wo yobu koe ga_         (the voice that called out to me countless times

 _tsurete kite kureta kono basho made_      and brought me to this place...)

 

Folding the bill in half and then bringing the corners together, he thought to construct one of the few origamis he knew, when he touched a metallic piece caught on the edge. It was a paperclip.

 

 _Michi naki michi kakenukeru_       (running through this roadless unknown...

  _Kimi to nara doko made mo_        If it's with you, to wherever, i'll go)

GO!!

 

Just for kicks, his fingers unraveled the wirey metal and looped it around, forming a little wand. Old instincts kicked in and he inserted the stem into the lock and steadied his hand. Twisting he poked around for that little nub he knew was in the back of all freeform locks. Hitting what felt like it, he looped it into the tip of his wand and turned. It clicked. It unlatched. He pulled it off and nudged the gate open.

 

Without a hitch, he stood up and blood rushed to his head and his heart pounded like crazy. Walking around and feeling against the walls with pounding in his ears, he finally found it. He simply released the handle and the door opened letting in a cooler brush of air but still no light. Scaling the walls with the palms of his hand, he wandered on for what felt like eternity. Until he felt the shape of another steely doorknob.

 

In that moment, Kagami couldn't care less about what he would run into and flung the door open. The door opened and made a smashing sound against the wall.

There was some rattling and a raspy voice responded. "Who's there?"

 

"Kagami," he blurted. "Kagami Taiga."

 

"Kagami..." the voice mused.

 

He approached and tried to squint to focus but nothing came into view in the glowing darkness.

 

"Were you the one behind all of this?" the male voice shot out.

 

"What the fuck?! I was...we were... kidnapped and I was locked up here and somehow got myself out and who the fuck are you?"

 

"Kagami? This is Seijuro Akashi. I'm locked in here. Get me out now."

 

"The CEO?" he wondered outloud.

 

"Yes. Get me out, we need to get out of here. It seems the men have left and I'm not sure if they are coming back, but we need to get to the others."

 

"Where is Aomine? Kise? Who else do they have?" There was a million more questions he wanted to ask Akashi, but his fingers quickly sprung into action and unlatched the now familiar clunky style lock.

 

"Kise and Aomine are in the room adjacent to this one. I could hear them at some points. Let's go." Akashi grabbed his shoulder and led him back out into the hallway. Akashi moved expertly and without hesitation. Enveloped in the still darkness, both of the fiery redheads shuffled along.

 

"How do you..." Kagami started to say.

 

"My eyes aren't affected by the darkness. I can see just as well as when there is light. Just hurry and trust me. Walk faster," he quickened his pacing and the taller redhead followed blindly.

 

"This is it. I'm certain they are in this room, from the trajectory of the voices I heard."

 

Akashi opened the door and they walked into where finally a glint could be seen. There was a shadow of a hand and a thumb and flame.

 

"Aomine?" he felt a pinch of relief even before the confirmation came. He knew exactly which dumbass was sitting there trying to melt the lock off with the flame of his lighter.

 

Then, the flame was raised high and Kagami could see a navy set of eyes and a weary smirk.

 

"Well took you guys long enough," he let out a low huff.

 

"Nice to see you too, Aho," Kagami put his fingers and the little paperclip back into business. The satisfying clunk of the lock hitting the ground made him smile with contentment.

 

"Where did you get the keys?"

 

"Apparently, locks aren't a problem for Kagami," the other redhead stated.

 

"Well, locks aren't a problem obviously, but where did you get something to work with?"

 

"You gave it to me. Apparently you hold your money together with paperclips."

 

"What? I do not. Ha. So the only who can save me, _is_ me afterall. Ha."

 

"Does it really matter?" Akashi's voice snapped, "Let's get out of here! We have to find Ryouta."

 

"Kise talked himself out of it. He used his charms and in a brief opening, he ran off. They didn't even bother to run after him. They said something like it didn't matter, and that it would be all be over soon. I don't understand. None of this makes any sense," Aomine groaned. Then in a more serious tone, "Seij, where is Midorima and Atsushi?"

 

"I don't know," was the lone answer.

 

After what felt like ear stuffing silence, Akashi added, "But I don't think we need to worry too much. They won't go down too easily," there was a soft smile on his strange eyes.

 

Akashi steered them to the next several rooms and Aomine kicked the doors open. Really he could save his strength but as smart and patient as he sometimes was, he was probably more eager to compensate for the fact that he needed saving a minute ago. All the other rooms were found to be empty and the three were confident that they were alone in what seemed like an abandoned old hospital.

 

The light of the moon was gentle and alluring but somehow blinding as Kagami felt the burning contact with his eyes. Outside, the air smelled like paradise and none of them could really help the pathetic smiles on their faces. Come what may, but tonight, Kagami felt stronger than before.

 

 _Kono sekai wa sugata wo kaeru_            (the world changes form

 _Subete kowareteku (Day by Day)_          and day by day everything is breaking

 _Tada hitotsu kawaranai mono_ _wa_         but one thing won't change,

 _Minna to no yuruginai kizuna_               our unyielding bond.)

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song is "Go" by Breakerz. Love them!

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoy. All comments are welcomed. I didn't have alot of time to edit, so please feel free to point out any glaring errors.


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